Jess is a friend of mine from oh, maybe the 1st grade? We used to make “green tea” with mint leaves (plus a bunch of other questionable stuff) from my backyard and try to feed it to our younger sisters. She always had the most epic birthday parties and perhaps even let me copy her geometry homework once or twice (SCREW YOU PROOFS). I would like to compare Jess to Mary Poppins, in that she’s practically perfect in every way. She is ridiculously smart, horribly sweet, fabulously silly, abundantly kind, and a great friend.

So when she first told me about Rich, I may have been a bit skeptical. Because who could be so perfect for such a perfect person? But upon hearing about him and meeting him I realized that he somehow also is smart, and sweet, and silly, and kind, and most of all makes Jess endlessly happy. The proof (NOT THE GEOMETRY KIND) is in the photos. In the way he’s gazing at her in this one. The way she’s laughing in that one. Their whole engagement session was so joyful, so personal, so real.

It may have helped that we shot in a wonderful little Italian restaurant {La Sosta Enoteca – oh the light! the rustic chairs! those billowy curtains!} in Hermosa Beach, where they had many of their first dates and first memories. Or that Rich brought along his two awesome daughters (be sure to scroll down!) for the second half of the session on the beach.

As I always hope for in engagement sessions, this one did seem so them – practically perfect in every way :)

Now despite everything your brain is telling you, these are not Anthropologie/J.Crew/UO models. They are just my fabulous clients, Sandy & Eric, who are not only ridiculously good looking, but also fun, and sweet, and putting together a beautiful wedding for this summer at the Skirball. I always love shooting around Abbot Kinney in Venice – the bright colors, cute storefronts, and artsy-hipstery-urbany vibe make it one of my fave spots to both hang out & shoot, and this time was no exception!

It was super windy that day and frigid cold, but upon seconds of meeting Xinlei and Matt {we had previously “met” via only Skype, oh technology!}, I knew they were the type of people to let go and have fun in almost any kind of situation. They seriously were in amazing spirits the entire shoot and embraced the sunny side of it all – that the wind lent beautiful movement to the photos, that the cold made them snuggle that much closer :) I had so much fun with them both and was a little sad when it came time for them to drop me back off at the airport, although they did send me off with a cupcake! Did I ever tell you about that one time, where I always get to work with the coolest couples ever? True story.